Evelyn Gardens | Halls from hell?

Several students currently housed at Evelyn Gardens are reporting being unhappy with the quality of the accommodation they are receiving, with complaints coming in ranging from issues with pest control, to problems with plumbing and electrical works.

The recently refurbished residencies of Holbein, Southwell and Willis Jackson, were meant to be ready by autumn this year as they opened their doors to over 200 returning undergraduate students. However the refurbishment has come under fire with students characterising it as “rushed” and “shoddy” despite it reportedly costing somewhere between £10-60 million (these are from a range of estimates).

Ongoing issues allegedly include overheated rooms due to boiler maintenance, rat infestations in the communal kitchens, poorly managed garbage disposals, lack of cold water in bedroom sinks, insufficient laundry facilities, and poor carpentry resulting in heat loss problems for multiple rooms. The list goes on and on.

But these seem like minor inconveniences compared to the onslaught of problems that originally plagued the newly refurbished halls. For at least two consecutive days at the beginning of term there wasn’t any hot water. Following that incident, the top floor flooded due to the overflowing of the roof tank (which is the main source of water for most of the in-room faucets, making the water undrinkable). For the first half of October, there were no washing and drying facilities reportedly due to the manufacturers being unable to come and program the appliances. And there’s also one report of a wasp infestation that lasted approximately five weeks. “I am paying £70 more a week to live in the same location as last year, yet I never had any of these issues at Fisher Hall. I specifically stayed in halls in order to not have to deal with a negligent landlord” said one student who prefers to remain anonymous. “Overall I’m very disappointed, and do not feel I’m getting my money’s worth”

Another frustrated resident tells us how last year’s Union President, Lucinda Sandon-Allum assured students that Evelyn Gardens would contain “fantastic residencies” – an optimistic statement indeed – as he shows us his single room. The room lacks adequate storage space, so the Hall’s management have provided him with wire draws that are too big to fit under the bed and are stored on top of the comically thin wardrobe. Daniel Williams continues the tour, pointing to his radiator. “Some days ago I received an email from the landlord that a contractor may or may not be coming to inspect the room’s electrical fittings sometime this week. When the contractor did come to my room, he dialled the heater up to the maximum temperature, then removed the control handle. Imagine the surprise to return to a room thirty degrees hotter than outdoors! After getting over the heater-induced asphyxiation, I told the concierge about this defect (who are caring, dutiful and considerate), but they couldn’t do much other than lodge a report with the contractors.” Williams ultimately had to go to the student Hub to get the issue resolved.

He then offers to show us his assigned kitchen space. The kitchen is located three floors down and through the neighbouring building.

“There are problems with the renovation. They haven’t completed the build. Issues with heating not working, water supply being erratic and unreliable, electrical problems: all things that were very frequent at the beginning of the term. They’re not happening as much now but the management is reacting to all of these problems rather than acting proactively and quite often they take unilateral action.”

Evelyn Gardens no longer have wardens to look out for the welfare of the students residing in the Halls. Instead there’s a concierge but their duties are mostly administrative. “There’s the concierge to sort out packages but there’s no warden. There are resident assistants supposed to be on call 24/7 but my experience is that they don’t have any real powers to resolve any of these issues.”

“The college will fund parties and team and community building events but what good is this if the place that you’re living in has frequent defects that keep popping up? It’s like they’re trying to pacify us with lollies. It doesn’t fix our original grievances though.” Currently, there are concerns about what will happen with any repairs that might come up during the winter break as. After approaching College for comment we were informed that during the break the 24/7 Concierge will continue and on-duty Resident Assistants will be available for Assistance.

As for the refurbishment, a College spokesperson said: “Evelyn Gardens occupies historical buildings, which can present challenges for refurbishment. As with any building project of this kind, some concerns were identified once the buildings were occupied as part of a bedding-in process. We apologise to any students who have been affected. The College has taken swift action to address these while making efforts to minimise disruption to students living there and will continue to do so.

“We are aware of some reports of pests at Evelyn Gardens since the refurbishment works finished and we are working with contractors on site to address this as soon as possible.”